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Women's tennis top stars talk personal

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Other players left sitting it out were third seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who was due to play home hope Tommy Robredo, fifth seed Milos Raonic of Canada and Japan's sixth seed Kei Nishikori.

Nadal, beaten by World No.1 Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo final Sunday, is using the Barcelona tournament to tune-up for the French Open in Paris next month where he is defending champion and bidding for an eighth crown.

Ferrer's defeat will assist him in his bid to move up the world rankings after a lengthy injury layoff, looking to replace him at No.4 before the second grand slam of the season.

Meanwhile, on the WTA Tour, China's Li Na reached the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart tournament with a straight sets win in her first match of the clay court season.

Li, who reached the final of the Australian Open in January, beat Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1 6-2 in their second round match.

She will face Petra Kvitova after the Czech star beat home hope Julia Goerges 2-6, 7-6 6-2 in their last 16 clash.

Top seedand French Open champion Maria Sharapova later struggled through against Czech Lucie Safarova, prevailing 6-4, 6-7 6-3 in their second round match and her opener in the defense of the Stuttgart crown.

The event offers a brand-new Porsche sports car, parked at the side of the court, to the title holder come Sunday.